Sacrifice
by twistedmic
Summary: Post Depths- Artemis was gravely wounded on a mission and is now near death. Nightwing would do anything to save her, even give up his own life.


Disclaimer- I do not own anything created, published or distributed by DC comics or any of their subsidiaries. No money will be made from this piece of work.

SACRIFICE

"I promise you I'll fix this. I'll make everything right again." Nightwing whispered, clenching his fists tightly. "I'm sorry."

A faint, high-pitched whine made him look up into the cloudy night sky. The sky shimmered directly above the hospital roof and several feet away from where he was sitting against the roof access hut and a sleek, deadly looking airship appears. The airship gently descended, the vertical thrusters whining as they powered down. As soon as the landing gear touched down, a ramp lowered and extended. Cheshire, in full mask and uniform, was the first one down the ramp, quickly followed by a quartet of grey uniformed men with a gurney between them.

Nightwing climbed to his feet, adjusting his shades by habit, and stepped over to meet Cheshire. "Everything's ready? "

Cheshire nodded. "The coordinates are set and she's expecting us. Two hours, two and a half tops."

"Her room's two floors down, fifth room on the left down the right corridor." Nightwing sighed and pressed a voice recorder into Cheshire's hand. "Make sure that Wally gets this, please. I'll be waiting on board."

Cheshire closed her fingers around the recorder and nodded. "I'll give it to him personally." She started down the stairs, waving for her companions to follow her.

"Don't go overboard. We just need him out of it for a bit, not crippled."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"What do you want, _Dick_?" The redhead all but growled as she slipped through the open door, his voice thick with contempt. Cheshire scowled behind her mask 'Stupid little shit. You have no idea of what 'Wing is doing for you, both of you.' She flicked her gaze to the bed and shivered. Artemis looked far too pale and lifeless, her chest barely moving. Only the steady beep of the heart-monitor and the rhythmic hiss of a respirator proved that her sister was still alive, for the time being.

"I don't know what you've got against the Grayson kid, but I think that I have every right to visit my sister when she's in the hospital as you do." Cheshire said as she walked deeper into the room and pulled out a stun-gun. Before the younger man could react, Cheshire slammed the stun-gun against his neck and squeezed the trigger.

Cheshire grinned as Wally twitched and jerked before slumping back in the chair. "Sleep tight, Speedy." The speedster groaned and Cheshire shocked him again for good measure. Wally slid gracelessly onto the floor.

She motioned to Talia's men and they quickly pushed their gurney into the room. They worked quickly and efficiently, switching out life support systems and I.V. drips transferring Artemis in mere minutes. "The patient is stable enough for transport, ma'am." The senior most medic said as the others finished strapping Artemis to the gurney.

"Good. Put her on the 'ship in the infirmary with Nightwing. I'll finish up here soon."

Cheshire stood over Wally, idly wondering just what her sister saw in him, as she waited for the faint squeak of the gurney wheels to fade. Once it was silent, she knelt down by the unconscious man's head and placed the voice recorder on his chest and folded his hands over it. "He's a better friend than you could possibly deserve, and my sister is far better than you deserve." She whispered before straightening and leaving the room.

_ ####################### _

___Artemis grabs Wally's hand, her smile dazzlingly bright and beautiful as she pulls him toward the Zeta platform. It feels as though someone has just shoved a knife deep into his chest when Dick sees their smiles. Wally stops her, pulls her into a deep, passionate kiss and twists the knife, drives it deeper._

_A wave of jealousy and bitter resentment washes over him and he wants to punch Wally. 'That should be me. You don't deserve her. I loved her first!'_

_As soon as the thoughts cross his mind he's filled with shame. They're his two closest friends, the only two people to know his true identity outside of Bruce and Alfred. He should be happy for them, both of them. He's being a horrible friend, has been for a while now. His heart aches and he wants to cry. Why can't he stop loving her? Why can't he move on?_

_###########_

_Artemis is lying on a hospital bed, tubes in her nose and arm. The cloying stench of antiseptic and old, stale burned coffee makes it hard to breathe. And the hissing, beeping, buzzing practically deafens him. He hates hospitals and infirmaries and sick bays. They always bring up bad memories and for a split second Artemis is replaced by his uncle Rick. Comatose and paralyzed and weak. Tears well up in his eyes and he fights to keep them from falling. He has to be strong, unshaken. He couldn't let his emotions take over. He has to been in control._

_Wally looks up at him, eyes red and blood-shot from crying. His face contorts with rage. "This is your fault!" He snarls. "She's as good as dead because of you, all because you had to try and be Batman." Wally's words strike old, deeply buried fears and insecurities. He never wanted to be Batman, never wanted to see his friends and loved ones as pawns on a chessboard. He's become the one thing that he never wanted, the one thing he feared becoming the most. It's harder to hold back the tears now._

"_Though I guess this isn't the first time you've sent a teammate to their death. Must be pretty easy when it's not the one you love who's doing the dying."_

_His throat closes up and he can't breathe and tears are beginning to slide down his cheeks. Wally's wrong. He loves Artemis, even after the years of them being together. He'd do anything to save her, to keep her alive. Wally has turned back to watch Artemis and doesn't see that he's crying. He swallows several times before he can finally speak. "Wally, I'm so sorry."_

"_Save your worthless apologies for another time. Like when you get M'gann killed, or Bee."_

_He can't stay any longer, he sees Uncle Rick again and his heart monitor isn't beeping anymore and they're unplugging the respirator and the last of his family is dead._

_#############_

_The rope snaps, sounding like a cannon blast and his family falls. His mother and father and uncle and aunt and cousin. There's screaming and a horrible thud and their all crumpled on the ground, broken and bloody. There's still screaming and people run up to try and help but they're already dead. He can smell the coppery stench of blood rising up from the cold, hard ground._

_Just minutes earlier they were alive and happy and smiling and now they're dead. His world is falling apart and the screaming has stopped and he's crying and staring at the blood soaked bodies._

_################_

_Tula smiles brightly as she walks into Mount Justice as Agua Girl for the first time. She's happy to be on the surface and with one of her oldest friends. She's happy to be able to use her skills and powers to help and protect the ones who can't protect themselves. She's vibrant and beautiful and so full of life and it's easy to see why Kaldur loves her so much. She fits in with the team easily, making friends almost as easily as breathing. _

_####################_

"_Behind you!" He cries, horrified as he sees the villain raise the rifle. She turns and sees the threat and raises a wall of water as the rifle barks. The water turns to ice but it's too late. The stream of bullets tears through the flimsy curtain and rips into her body. Her abdomen is all but shredded, resembling raw, ground beef more than living human flesh._

_He slams one of his Eskrima sticks against the villains head, harder than necessary and he rushed over to her side. Blood flecks her lips as she tries to speak. He wants to tell her that she'll be fine, that she'll make it, he wants to reassure her but he doesn't. He can't lie to her. They both know that she is about to die and nothing can save her. All he can do is hold her as she dies and apologize over and over even when Artemis is pulling him away and leading him to the Bio-Ship while Connor carries Tula._

_####################_

_They are taking Tula home and Artemis is there for him. Telling him it wasn't his fault, that he couldn't have done anything that he couldn't have known what was going to happen. Her words and actions bring more hurt than comfort. He wants to hold her tight, confess his love for her and never let her go. She's still with Wally and it's getting serious. They've moved in together. And Artemis has told him she's considering agreeing to Wally's desire to get a dog. For her, that's a bigger sign of love and trust and belief that their relationship will last, a bigger sign than marriage._

_He feels shame that rivals guilt and despair in intensity and he knows he needs to move away from Artemis, move her hand from his shoulder but he can't. The shame grows stronger and he can't hold back the pain and the tears anymore._

_Artemis hugs him and it only make him cry harder and he hates himself even more._

_######################_

_Artemis staggers away from Kaldur, clutching her chest where the water-blade pierced her, gasping and gagging and it's all too easy to forget that this was all staged. All too easy to believe that she was really stabbed and another woman is dying because of him. He lowers her gently, almost tenderly, to the cold sand and barely remembers to break the blood capsule and smear it across her chest where the wound should be. Tears are burning in his eyes as he begins the fake CPR and the now familiar shame flares up as some part of him enjoys being able to press his lips to hers and touch her in such an intimate place and manner._

"_I-I don't hear her heartbeat." Connor says and the faint, barely perceptible weakness in the Kryptonian's voice hits him harder than M'gann's anguished gasp. The tears blur his world and stream down his cheeks as he gives up on the CPR and presses his forehead to her still warm abdomen. Another teammate dead because of him, another name to add to the list and more blood on his hands and soul. And the pain and doubt and self-disgust from the training simulation, long since buried, claws to the surface and he can barely breathe. He clings to her and worthless, meaningless apologies pour from his lips as he continues to cry._

_Someone grabs his shoulder and shakes. "Nightw_ing, wake up!"

Nightwing was jolted awake when Cheshire, minus her namesake mask, shook his shoulder again. He plucked off his shades and wiped the tears from his eyes while he tried to force his heart to slow down. Artemis was still alive, her vital signs stable though weak, and they were both in the infirmary of Talia al Ghul's private airship.

"Are you okay?" Jade asked; concern evident in her eyes.

"Yeah, just bad dreams." Nightwing replied. He sighed and, after rubbing his face, replaced his shades.

Jade narrowed her eyes. "Right, and I was a boy scout."

Nightwing smirked. "Your plastic surgeon did really good work, top notch. I hope you tipped him well."

"Good one. But it won't throw me off. You need help, Richard. It can't be healthy to hold on to stuff like that."

"I told you, I'm fine."

Jade stepped over to Nightwing and placed a hand on his shoulder. "No, you're not. I can tell. Roy has _bad dreams_ like you and he was never fine afterward."

When Nightwing raised a questioning eyebrow, Jade shrugged and replied. "Wife privileges. Can't help you on that front. If nothing else I'm loyal to the people I love."

Nightwing smiled slightly and returned his gaze to Artemis. "I prefer blondes anyway."

"I figured you did. Anyway, we're on final approach. We'll be landing in fifteen minutes or so. The captain wants you in the passenger compartment."

Nightwing nodded and, reluctantly slid out of the chair. He paused briefly by Artemis' bedside to gently run his thumb over her cheek before following Jade out of the infirmary.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Talia, along with a pair of armed guards, was already waiting on the tarmac when Nightwing stepped off of the ramp off the airship. She was still as agelessly, classically beautiful as the last time that he had seen her. A small smile flashes across her lips when she sees him and she glides over to his side. "It is good to see you again, Richard. If only it were under less somber circumstances."

She slipped his dark sunglasses from his face, folded down the arms and gently slipped them into his jacket pocket. "It is wrong to hide such beauty as your eyes."

"I've heard something like that before." Nightwing said, flicking his gaze over to Artemis as the medics wheeled her down the ramp.

_################_

_Artemis smiles, enhancing her beauty, when she sees him in his 'Daring Danger' costume. "You should go without your shades more often, Rob. Your eyes are way too gorgeous to keep hidden."_

_His heart skips a beat and his cheeks grow warm. He hopes it's not too obvious. 'Not half as gorgeous as you' He thinks, but he's too self-conscious too voice his opinion, too worried that she'd take it as a joke or treat him as a child and all he can do is mumble out a quiet 'Thanks'_

_################ _

'If I could have said that to her, would I be her boyfriend instead of Wally?' Nightwing shook his head, trying to banish the thoughts that always followed that particular memory as well as the feelings of shame and disgust. He shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, gently running his thumb over the lens of his shades. He felt naked and vulnerable without them, the weakness evident in his reddened eyes all too obvious and desperately wanted to replace them. The shades were the psychological and emotional armor to his Kevlar and NOMEX suit. He shivered slightly and quickly followed the medics towards the large freight elevator at the side of the hangar. Talia matched his pace while Jade and the guards followed a step behind them and half a step to the sides.

"I take it that you wish to proceed without delay?" Talia said.

Nightwing nodded, not trusting his voice to remain steady.

"As you wish." Talia said and typed in a short code on the elevator's call panel. The doors slid shut soundlessly and the elevator car lurched into motion.

Less than a minute later the elevator came to a gentle halt and the doors slide open to reveal a large, natural cavern with a wide yellow-green pool at its center. Wisps of sickly yellow mist swirled over the liquid's surface and a thick, sulfurous stench filled the air.

The medics wheeled Artemis over to the edge of the pool and started unhooking the machines and undoing the straps holding her to the gurney. Nightwing pulled off his jacket and handed it to Jade. "Would you mind giving this to Roy? He'll know who it should go to."

Jade nodded and carefully folded the leather jacket over her arm.

Nightwing nodded his thanks and walked over to Artemis' side. He stood next to her for nearly a minute, watching her and imagining that she were merely sleeping rather than near death. He took a deep, steadying breath to steel his nerves then bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips. "I love you Artemis. I love you so much, and I'm so sorry for what I've done to you and Wally. I hope you'll forgive me someday."

He carefully gathered her into is arms descended the rough-hewn staircase into the lurid pool.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"First things first, Wally, Artemis is safe. And by the time you listen to this she'll be well on her way to making a full recovery. You two will be happy together, that's the least that I can do to make up for everything I've done." Dick's voice rang from the tiny speaker on the voice recorder. Wally shivered slightly at the unsettlingly flat and empty tone of his friend's voice. Dick sighed heavily before speaking again. " I haven't been a very good friend to you lately, and I can't apologize enough for that. I should never have gotten Artemis involved. Hell, I shouldn't have asked Kal to go undercover like that. The plan didn't even work and now Kal's lost a hand and Artemis nearly died.

I can't do it anymore, Wally. I'm done with the Team, with Heroing altogether, I won't be coming back. Tell Mal that I want Superboy to take lead until Aqua Lad comes back. If Aqua Lad doesn't come back, it's up to Mal and Superboy to decide when Batgirl is ready to take over. Look after Tim for me, tell him I'm sorry but this is something that I have to do and that I love him. I've hurt so many, messed up so much but I promise that I'll fix this. I'll make everything right."


End file.
